In this post, we’ll look at what we can learn about leadership from what Daniel did right. This post will focus on Daniel, chapter 2:
In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.” 4 Then the astrologers answered the king, “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.” 5 The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6 But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.”
7 Once more they replied, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”
8 Then the king answered, “I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: 9 If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.” 10 The astrologers answered the king, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. 11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans.”
12 This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death. 14 When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. 15 He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel. 16 At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him. 17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20 and said:
“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. 21 He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. 22 He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. 23 I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king.”
24 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.” 25 Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.” 26 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”
27 Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these:
29 “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. 39 “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. 44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. 49 Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court.
What Daniel Did Right
There are several things we can learn from Daniel’s response to the news that he and his friends were going to die.
Daniel Negotiates an Extension of the Timeline
Daniel knows he is going to die, so he has nothing to lose by going to Nebuchadnezzar and asking for a bit of time (vs 16). Now, because he had established a good reputation with the King by excelling at what he was assigned to learn, he was able to speak with the King directly and ask for some time to see if he could meet the king’s demands. It was likely a safe assumption that the King would negotiate on time, given how strongly he wanted the interpretation. Sometimes, when the person sitting across the table wants something bad enough, they are willing to give a bit on something else in order to get what they want. In this case, the King gave a bit on time because he deeply wanted (needed?) the meaning of his dreams. So Daniel takes advantage of this and buys some time.
Daniel Enlists the Help of his Friends
Leaders know when to enlist the help of others to solve a thorny problem (vs 17). So many Christian business owners see themselves as needing to have all the answers. They operate under the mistaken assumption that leadership means being the smartest guy in the room, having all the right answers and simply delegating tasks and directives to others. But that is not leadership – not at all – and Daniel doesn’t sit back and think to himself, “I’m the one with the gift of interpreting dreams and visions, so why talk to my friends about this?” No, he enlists their help. Now, they also knew they were going to die, so I suspect there was an element of desperation here – a type of “all hands on deck” mentality – but who could blame them? If they didn’t get this right, they would be dead in the morning. Staying alive can be a strong motivator.
Daniel Turns to God for Relief and Rescue
To my way of thinking, this is the core of Godly leadership – one’s humility before God and understanding that God is constantly placing you – the leader – in a position where all you can do is pray and trust Him for the outcome. That is exactly the place Daniel and his friend found themselves: All they could do is pray and trust God for the outcome (vs 18). Vs 19 tells us that “during the night” the mystery was revealed to Daniel. Some have asserted that Daniel and his friends went to sleep, but one can more readily imagine that these four were still in their late teens and were driven to pray all night with an imminent death penalty hanging over their heads.
As a Christian business owner, there will be multiple times when God uses the business He has entrusted to you to drive you to your knees and put you in a place where the only thing you can do is pray and trust God. Those are enviable times, frankly, and should be cherished because those are the times when you’re about to see God work in ways only He can.
Daniel Points to God as the Source of the Miraculous
In verses 27-30, Daniel clearly tells Nebuchadnezzar that the dream’s interpretation comes from God, not Daniel. In fact, Daniel is not able to do anything more than anyone else left to himself (vs. 30), but he acknowledges that God, working through him, can do anything God desires. There is a fine line here: a leader under the direction of God knows that the miraculous is possible, but not because of the leader himself, but because of what God can do through the leader. But as leaders, if our theology of miracles and the supernatural is so Westernized that we’re really not thinking God can do something miraculous, then we limit God. Our lack of faith will hinder His willingness to work through us.
If we are going to lead as Daniel did, we need to enlarge our vision of what could be by submitting to God in such a way that we humbly accept God doing something miraculous through us – not because of us – but because God is trying to reach the lost through His miracles.
Keep this in mind: sometimes God places us in positions of leadership and influence so that we can get out of the way and be the conduit through which God reveals Himself to a lost person(s).
Summary
So, what do we learn about Godly leadership from Daniel 2? At least these four things:
- Negotiate extension of time if you need to gather more information or accomplish a task that will further the goals of another
- Enlist the assistance of your trusted friends and colleagues. Building alliances – the ability to get more done as a group than you ever can as an individual is visceral to Godly leadership
- Allow God to put you in a position where all you can do is pray. The core of Godly leadership is complete dependence on God for the results.
- When God does the miraculous, give God the praise and point people back to him, not to yourself.
Bill English
Founder, Bible and Business
